The dark side of the moon
by Atie
Summary: Just one little comment from Snape and the world turns up side down. Watch out Hogwarts. HPDM SlashPart of the Ebony & Ivory Fest.


TITLE: The dark side of the moon.  
  
AUTHOR: Atiejen  
  
AUTHOR'S EMAIL: atiejen at yahoo. com  
  
RATING: R  
  
SPOILERS: None  
  
WARNINGS: None  
  
SUMMARY: Just one little comment from Snape and the world turns up side down. Watch out Hogwarts  
  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. I do not own any of the characters in my story. Wails and bangs head against keyboard  
  
CHALLENGE: Part of the Ebony and Ivory Fuh-Q-Fest   
  
Challenge 29: Gryffindor's Golden Boy isn't as Golden as he makes out to be. Just what have he and the Slytherin Prince been up to behind closed doors? (Minnie).  
  
Challenge 41: Draco shows up at Harry's door beaten and bloodied. (Minnie)  
  
Challenge 75: Either Harry or Draco needs a blood transfusion/donation, and the other one is a match. (Aeowen)  
  
ARCHIVE: Fest Archive; Atie's Little Obsessions; Anyone who wants it, just let me know, thanks  
  
BETA: Please, in this case, all the mistakes are mine and thank you Taligator for reading this through for me.

NOTE: I have every intention of playing in this universe some time in the future so be on the look out.

* * *

In the hidden room off the hospital wing, a voice could be heard saying, "I don't really want to do this." And a deeper, silkier and more refined voice immediately responded, "I don't particularly care what you want, Potter. That is my godson lying there, beaten and bloodied as a result of the imbecilic nature of your fellow Gryffindor's so don't tell me about what you do and don't want. For all I care, you can end up like that pompous father of yours or even like that useless god-mutt of yours but I absolutely refuse to leave my godson to suffer the same fate."  
  
It was a testament to how angry Harry was that he refused to rise to the bait that the other man had thrown at him with his uncaring words. Harry just stood there looking at the boy on the bed. Draco looked very ashen and pale lying on the white sheets of the hospital wing and Harry felt a big pang in his chest at the sight of him.  
  
It wasn't quite three hours earlier that Harry had been expecting his lover of 6 months to arrive for their scheduled rendezvous that the other boy had indeed turned up looking nothing like Harry had been anticipating. There was a large bruise forming on the blonde boy's face and his expensive robes were all torn and bloodied. Harry had gasped at the sight before jumping into action. He'd picked up his lover and through some intricate shortcuts from his room, he'd found his way down to the hospital wing.  
  
It was lucky for them that Harry had been given a private room as a result of his many nightmares in the past and as a way to preserve his privacy whenever he'd ended up in the hospital wing. In the months after Voldemort's defeat in his sixth year, Harry had spent the first week in the hospital wing completely catatonic and then the following month returning to the hospital wing at sporadic times. This schedule was something the whole school was interested in, coming to visit him at the most inopportune times, thus it had taken him a lot of pleading before the headmaster had agreed to give him the room to accord him his privacy. Fortunately, Hogwarts was also kind to him and gave him doorways and staircases as he needed.  
  
Not too long after he'd that, he'd been very grateful for that privacy because it had now given him the opportunity to spend some time alone with the boy who had caught his interest, his former rival, Draco Malfoy. Their relationship had developed in secret after the defeat of Voldemort, when the Malfoy's had been revealed to be Dumbledore's deep plant spies. The revelation had certainly turned the school on its head and though it hadn't made Draco any more likeable, it had blurred the lines that separated them and opened doors of communication.  
  
They had started with spending time together, talking and getting to know each other. Through this, Harry had gotten to know the blond haired Slytherin and had grown to like Draco's unconventional sense of humour. He'd also come to appreciate Draco's well-rounded manner of looking at the world. Unlike Ron and Harry's other Gryffindor friends who saw the world only in black and white, Harry had discovered that Draco saw the world in shades of grey, much like his own beautiful grey eyes; Another thing of his that Harry had come to value.  
  
Their relationship though slow building, hadn't taken long before turning sexual and while they'd tried hard to keep that aspect of it circumspect, it must have been discovered because it was the reason Draco was now lying in the hospital wing.  
  
When Harry had burst through the doors with Draco in his arms, he'd been almost in tears and by the time the medi-witch had finished performing her scan; the look on her face had confirmed his encroaching fears, that the wounds were bad. Draco hadn't only been hurt physically; he'd also been hexed and cursed. The wounds hidden beneath his robes had been extensive causing him to loose a lot of blood. To minimize the damage and explore healing options, Draco had been placed in a healing coma, which brought Harry to his present predicament and argument.  
  
Professor Snape had been called in as Draco's head of house. When the medi- witch had finished her diagnosis, it was discovered that Draco needed a blood transfusion. The fortunate thing for them was that Harry was one of the very few people in school that had a compatible blood type with Draco and he was the closest match. Ordinarily, Harry wouldn't have had any compunction about helping his lover, but this time things were slightly different. Harry couldn't help remembering the last few times that his blood had been drawn from him. The first time at the graveyard when it was used to resurrect Voldemort, and then when torrents of it had been drawn the year before to use in creating the potion that was eventually used to destroy Voldemort.  
  
It was as a result of these, knowing how much damage his blood could be used for, that made Harry reticent about having his blood drawn for any purpose whatsoever. His paranoia had risen to such lengths that he'd taken further protective measures that led him to wearing close fitting defensive charms on his person at all times that prevented any part of his body from being used for any magical purposes without his knowledge or permission, including polyjiuce and the like.  
  
As he stood there, listening to Professor Snape berate him for not jumping up to shed his blood, he sounded very selfish, which was furthest from the truth. He was only skeptical about the consequences of having his blood in his lover. He was unsure of what his blood would do to Draco and he didn't want to take the chance that it would hurt him further. It didn't matter that Madam Pomfrey felt that there was no danger, Harry had learned the hard way that there was a lot of power in blood, and in his blood in particular.  
  
"Are you listening to me, Potter?" Professor Snape's irritated voice interrupted his musings and brought him back to the moment and the hospital wing. Harry only nodded at the older man still looking down at his lover. Luckily, his hair, which he'd grown out at Draco's insistence, fell about his face hiding his expressions from the man watching him.  
  
"Are you absolutely sure, Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked again for what seemed like the umpteenth time and the medi-witch only looked at him shrewdly before answering, "I have been a medi-witch for many years, Harry Potter. I know what I'm doing." Snape didn't allow Harry to respond to the medi-witch before breaking into yet another bitter tirade against Harry.  
  
"So much for your - oh so generous Gryffindor qualities, or does it suddenly go into hibernation when a Slytherin needs it? And my godson thinks you actually care about him." Smiling wolfishly, the man seemed to correct himself saying, "Actually, that is wrong. My godson thinks you are just using him, and I am inclined to agree with him. To think of the many times that I've told him that getting involved with a Gryffindor and especially a Potter is the worst thing he could possibly do. I told him that you were not worth it but he didn't listen to me. Well I can only thank you, Potter for proving me right. You will do this for him, and when it is over, you will keep away from my godson. You and your moronic friends have caused him enough damage already. Just like the past, you are exactly like your father. Like the many times I told Draco, I told your Lily time and again about the dangers of getting involved with James Potter, but she didn't believe me either. And what did he do? He led her to her death, the same way you did when Voldemort came looking for you Potters. Well, I will not let you do the same thing to my godson. He will not die so that you can be the boy who lived."  
  
"Severus!" An angry voice called out to him in rebuke; a voice that Harry recognized as Professor Dumbledore's. The rebuke made no difference to him, though because as far as he was concerned, the reproach had come too little too late.  
  
Harry ignored them and walked closer to his lover's bed and brushed his hair off his forehead. Harry then leaned down and placed a small kiss on the pale boy's face, whispering to him, 'Hang on for me, Draco'. Ignoring Professor Snape's snort, Harry looked down at his lover hoping that nothing bad would happen to him during the transfusion and that Draco would come out of his coma undamaged. Then maybe he would explain that comment of Professor Snape's about being used.  
  
In the mean time, he had to deal with the wounds that Professor Snape's latest vitriol had opened up within his psyche. Harry felt that he'd carried a heavy enough burden already and he had so many wounds that he hadn't needed to hear that yet another person blamed him for the blood he felt he had on his hands. He didn't need to hear someone else blame him for the death of his parents and Sirius; something that Remus had done and had taken to his grave.  
  
After all the disappointments, failures, pain and hurts of his past, his relationship with Draco was the one good thing hat he had discovered and he had every intention of keeping it for himself. It was the one bright light that he held on to in the darkness of his soul, and he wasn't ready to let it go.  
  
So, to hear Professor disparage it the way he'd done was more than Harry was prepared to bear especially after he'd already borne the weight of the Wizarding world without complaint. So, Harry hardened his face and his heart, stood up straight and prepared himself to face the one major obstacle to his happiness. Harry was aware of how much Draco loved and idolized his godfather, and he'd made allowances for it. Personally, he would have preferred it if the other man had no bearing whatsoever on any part of his life but he knew that for as long as Draco was a part of his life, Professor Snape would be there, even if it was just hanging in the milieu.  
  
To face up to this new challenge, Harry knew that he would need help so he called on the part of himself that he had hidden away. It was a part of him that only Draco had been aware of; the part of him that lived in the shadows, the Slytherin inside the Gryffindor. There and then, Harry let the façade of Harry James Potter, the façade that hid so much of who he was and allowed him a measure of peace in the duplicitous warring world; he allowed that veneer melt back. What came to the fore was the hardened boy who lived within him, a boy named Henry. This was the boy who had taken all the beatings at the Dursley home. It was this same boy that had borne the disappointments of his childhood when the teachers and adults had turned a blind eye to the abuse of the Dursleys. This was the boy that had silently accepted his Aunt Marge's molestations and her rapes on his young body. Complaining had only gotten him more lashes from his uncle's belt, so he'd learned to keep quiet. It was this part of him that had accepted their sufferings upon himself so that the rest of the world could enjoy the lightheartedness of Harry Potter. After all, it wouldn't do for the epitome of the Wizarding World to have any dark impulses.  
  
Over their years together, they had learned to co-exist with Henry only came out if and when he was needed. He'd been coming out more and more recently though, when the weight had started getting to Harry. Now, unfortunately for Severus Snape, he had just placed too heavy a weight on Harry's shoulder and Harry was tired. Harry wanted to rest and Henry was going to let him. For that to happen, Henry needed to take control of their body, and since he didn't have the finesse that Harry had, the world was going to have to wake up and pay attention to him. With his thoughtless words, Professor Snape had just tipped the balance to Henry.  
  
With Henry now in control, the first thing he did was send out some questioning feelings towards his other self, Harry and the light wizard responded with confirmation that he was okay with Henry's control of their body. It wasn't often that they were able communicate like this, only in times of extreme emotion. Now sure of what he was doing, Henry pulled off his hair from his forehead and raised his head to look at the men watching and waiting to him. He focused his sight on his teachers, which must have been what cottoned to them the fact that a change has taken place because they both physically flinched back from his gaze. Henry knew that his eyes were different from Harry's. No longer were they the warm green gaze that were reminiscent of Lily Potter's eyes. The eyes that looked straight at them were crystal sharp malachite green that were devoid of warmth. The hardened iced over eyes studied the two older men intently before nonchalantly dismissing them as unimportant. He could see the effect this had on them as their mouths dropped open in shock. He continued with his perusal of his surroundings, though till he ended with the medi-witch. He looked at her and keeping her as the spotlight of his gaze, he told her quite seriously, "Madam Pomfrey, I'm holding you to your word that Draco Malfoy will remain safe through out and after this procedure." He finished his statement stressfully, causing the older woman to blanche a bit before rebounding unflinchingly with, "Don't you go threatening me, young man."  
  
Harry would have flinched at her hard tone as she was expecting but Henry wasn't in the habit of flinching from people. He only looked at her levelly before quirking the side of his lips. Her eyes widened in surprise at his response, and since he now had her attention, he drawled quite insolently at her, "Threatening you, I'm not threatening you, Madam Pomfrey, I have no reason to. But you have given me a guarantee that there will be no adverse effects upon Draco and as you claim to be a champion in the field, I'm choosing to invoke those words as a magical contract." The three elders in the room gasped at that but Harry ignored them, even Dumbledore's shout of "Harry." He then continued, "Even though it is a verbal agreement, it lies within the bonds of magical concordats and should you break it, the magic will be our judge."  
  
In the heavy silence that followed his pronouncement, Henry unconcernedly removed his outer robes and then his shirt. All the while muttering the complex charm that nullified the blocks on his D.N.A. Now relatively bare, Henry lay back on the bed and closed his eyes before telling the medi- witch, "Shall we start?"  
  
It must have taken the medi-witch a while to compose herself because it took some time before Henry could feel her by his bedside casting the requisite spells. As she began, Henry tried to take his mind off the goings on and its implications by chanting calming phrases in his mind. When he fest calm enough Henry went through the process of soothing Harry's fears and dealing with his feelings of guilt. Just over an hour later, he was roused from his deep mind talk by the medi-witch telling him that it was over. Henry closed his eyes thankfully before looking towards his lover's bed. There, he discovered that in a pale imitation of Muggle blood transfusions, there were about four blood filled globes latched to Draco's arms with the medi-witch waving her wand over the boy as the blood depleted.  
  
Turning away, Henry dressed up and recast his blocks in one smooth move before sitting down immediately afterwards due to vertigo. Madam Pomfrey hurried back to him then and pushed a cup of hot chocolate beneath his nose. Henry gratefully drank it before thanking her.  
  
Now considerably calmer, Henry made his way to Draco's corner of the room and found that professor Snape was still there sitting and watching his godson. Harry ignored him and paid attention to the still pale boy on the bed. Since he could see no difference in his condition, he asked the medi- witch, "How long will he be like this, Madam Pomfrey?"  
  
She didn't answer him so he called out to her a lot sharper, "Madam Pomfrey?" And instead of her soft voice answering him, it was a sharp snarl from Professor Snape that retorted. "She doesn't owe you any answers or explanations, Potter. You've done your part, now everything else about my godson is in my care and no longer your business. Be on your way before I give you more detentions than you would know what to do with."  
  
After hearing him, Henry responded with a bitter laugh. Still looking at his lover, he told the older man, "Well in the casuistry of this Wizarding world of yours, Professor Snape, I can always count on you to be on the step above all others. When you set out to use someone, you definitely use them to their fullest and then let them know when they have outlived their usefulness."  
  
After that, he looked away from Draco and sent a frigid look at the black eyed man before letting him know quite emphatically, "I did not donate my blood for your puerile enjoyment or because you said so. I did it because the boy on that bed," he pointed at Draco, "needed it. What Draco asks of me is his to receive and that is as far as I am willing to tell you with regards to my relationship with him. You have proven to be an important aspect of his life so for that reason, I will tolerate you but do not for one moment mistake it for anything else. You are my Professor, a bad teacher, but my Professor nonetheless and I will respect you as such. But bear in mind that that is the extent of my association with you."  
  
The tightening of the other man's face told Henry how much of an impact his words were making and taking the opportunity to lay out all his grievances, he continued uncompromisingly. "You are a bully, Professor Snape. I know it, you know it, and the whole school knows it. In the past, before Voldemort died, I bore your abuse for Dumbledore's sake and since the defeat of Voldemort; I have borne it for Draco's sake, but no more. It is over, and it ended three hours ago. I am no longer the boy you once knew Professor Severus Snape and right now, I don't particularly care what grudges you hold against my parents, their friends, my house, my lineage, and even myself. I've spent entirely too many hours of my life in this school as the dirt beneath your shoe and I refuse to continue. If I never spoke to you again, it would be to soon, but for Draco's sake I am prepared to bear with your presence in my life"  
  
If it were possible for Henry's eyes to get any harder, they just did and he trapped Snape's onyx ones in the arctic depths of his green ones before threatening, "With this being the only warning you will get, you should know that the next time you try to use me as your verbal punching bag, all bets will be off and I will retaliate using any means necessary." A blink released them from their stalemated gazes and Henry looked back at his lover. Snape sputtered angrily behind him, but Henry ignored him and walked sure-footedly away from the hospital wing.  
  
His strut, his gaze and everything about his movements gave a keep-off signal, which was what Henry wanted so he was able to get to his room without interruptions as the students parted from him whenever he came across them. The thought going through his mind was that even though he didn't know who was responsible for putting his lover in the hospital wing, he would find out, and there would be consequences.  
  
Henry refused to accept that Harry had spent his six years in the Wizarding world fighting the prejudice of Voldemort only to have his lover fall victim of another form of prejudice. There really were times that he hated the Wizarding world.  
  
When Henry got to Harry's room, he went straight to the shower, knowing that it was where he would find his most comfort. And he did find it, there under the almost scalding water; Henry was able to wash off what was left of Harry Potter. He washed of the other boy's meekness, his overt joyfulness, his incomprehensible agreeability and most of all, his overly Gryffindorish tendencies. The man that came out of the shower was very different from the one that went it. He was much darker and a lot more assertive. He knew what he wanted and he was determined to get it. He owed the world no favours and he knew it. Henry flicked through Harry's wardrobe quickly, looked at the Dursley's cast offs with disgust and settled down to make his own changes. He was going to put his own stamp on the place and on the life.  
  
As he started, he was grateful for the times like these when Harry's hidden and well-preserved magic could come out to play. With multiple waves of his wand and using spells in parseltongue, Henry transformed Harry's wardrobe to his liking. By the time he finished, he ended up wearing a pair of skintight black jeans with a very dark green shirt that reflected his darker toned eyes. He then modified his school robes to a more fitting shape with a barely closed front showing off what he was wearing underneath. He glasses were now rimless ones that didn't hide his eyes and he completed his looks with a dragon hide collar with a silver dragon dangling from the middle of it.  
  
Henry was quite happy with the outcome of his makeover and was even happier about his ability to cast his spells in parseltongue. The spells could only be altered in the same tongue so his changes were pretty much anchored and permanent, and he didn't have to worry about anyone screaming 'finite incantatem' at him.  
  
Henry's ruminations were interrupted by a sharp knock on his door and though he could only guess at his visitor, his face didn't soften in the slightest as he opened his door.  
  
Standing there were his closest friends, Hermione and Ginny. "Come in," he invited them with a quirk of his lips. Though Hermione's skepticism showed in her hesitation before entering, Ginny had no such restraint, she bounded in like she usually did without fear.  
  
"Hey Harry," they greeted him as they entered but it was as he closed the doors and looked back at them that Ginny wolf-whistled at him, "Nice looks. Where have you been hiding these?"  
  
The only indication from Henry that he found her exuberance amusing was in the small wrinkle at the middle of his forehead, otherwise he quietly studied them.  
  
"Harry," Hermione called out with a bit of trepidation, looking at him a bit too keenly for his liking so he kept her waiting before answering, "Henry, if you please."  
  
"What?" she asked but Ginny nodded knowingly, after all, she had been a more frequent visitor to his rooms while Draco was present and had an inkling of what was happening.  
  
"What happened?" ... "Who?" They both asked at the same time and Henry looked towards Hermione first. "Henry Evans Potter." That was my mother's name and that is my father's name. Though her confusion was evident, she nodded agreeably at him before she focused her face as if in deep thought.  
  
Henry then looked at Ginny and answered her, "My Dragon is in the hospital wing because some harebrained simpleton did not approve of my relationship with him. He was physically assaulted and cursed. He is now in a coma and that is not a position I like seeing him in. Did you hear anything about this?" He asked them. They exchanged a bewildered look before shaking their heads at him, "No." Since he was already delayed in going to the hospital wing, Henry chose to believe them but warned them incase they were also in danger due to their relationship. "Since Draco hasn't been able to say anything yet, I'm not sure if it was on my behalf or if it was because we are in a homosexual relationship so you both should be very careful. Someone out there might be having a problem with people in same sex couplings."  
  
"Sure thing," they told him, and he looked at them coldly to let them know how serious he was, before picking up his wands and leading them out of the room. He locked his room with a parsel locking charm and started towards the hospital wing. When he saw that his friends intended to follow him, he abruptly told them, "I'll send word when he wakes," and not giving them the opportunity to object, went through one of the hidden doorways.  
  
There were wards around Draco's bed when he got there but he as able to disable them with minimum effort and was soon sitting and watching the boy he loved. His displacement of the wards must have triggered an alarm in the medi-witch's rooms because she came running into Draco's room and he only had to look at her coldly before she turned away.  
  
Henry hadn't been watching Draco for long before his eyelids started flickering as he started waking. He quickly leapt off his chair and leaned over the blonde boy calling his mane to try and wake him up faster.  
  
"Draco, wake up!" he tried whispering and tapping the boy's cheeks.  
  
"Mmmmm," Draco responded still sleeping and this only made Henry tap him harder.  
  
"Mr. Potter," the school medi-witch shouted at him, but Henry continued trying to wake his lover. Alternately tapping both cheeks, Henry kept calling out to him, "Open up, Draco; show me those pretty grey eyes; c'mon Draco, open up."  
  
Henry kept up the same litany of phrases as he patted his lover's cheeks, ignoring all attempts to pull him away until Draco's eyes opened and he could see that they were the clear grey that he expected. Somehow, seeing them unchanged gave him a measure of comfort that things might just work out. Since Draco was now awake, Henry allowed himself to be pulled away and he leaned on the corresponding wall in satisfaction. He folded his arms across his chest and waited for the nurse to check on her patient.  
  
Just to his left, Professor Snape stood shouting at him, "That will be 100 points from Gryffindor, Potter and you will be serving detention with Filch for the next month. Harry only glanced at him before looking back at the boy on the bed.  
  
Snape growled at his ignoring him and continued, "Don't think that you've grown too big for your britches, Potter. You are still a student of this school."  
  
Henry was about answering him when Madam Pomfrey shouted at them, "if you are just here to disturb my patient, take it outside."  
  
"Is everything alright?" Henry asked her instead and she answered him with some indignation in her voice, "I told you that he'd be fine, Mr. Potter and he is. Now, I've just given him some sleeping draught so he will be asleep for some hours. You should leave, I'll let you know when he wakes up."  
  
Henry ignored her order and made himself more comfortable in his chair and sat watching Draco, occasionally brushing off his hair and just using any excuse to touch him.  
  
"You must really think yourself better than everyone else that you would ignore even the nurse's advice for my godson's health." Snape started on him again, but Henry only concentrated on his lover. "Would you just stop pawing at my godson and leave him to his rest," he shouted when Henry continued to ignore him. Henry decided to add insult to injury and started singing to Draco. It turned out to be too much for the Potions master as he stormed out of the room.  
  
The time flew by as Henry continued singing the low–toned Irish medleys to his lover in his sleep. Dobby brought him his food and he only left to use the loo.  
  
At the requisite time, Draco woke up as expected and when Henry saw his crystal-clear grey eyes, he couldn't have been more overjoyed, that was his Draco. Madam Pomfrey came in to check on him and performed another scan before declaring him well. Even though she told him that he'd have to remain in the hospital wing for some more hours.  
  
While she was doing her check Henry had stood aside to give her space and barely acknowledged Professor Snape when he also returned. When she finished, Henry moved closer to his lover's bed with his stance still forbidding. Draco hadn't seen him yet, so he decided to get his attention.  
  
"Drachma[i]," he called and saw Draco's eyes widen upon hearing the pet name before he unwittingly called out, "Henry?"  
  
Henry placed a feather light caress on the blonde's face and Draco instinctively leaned into it. "You're looking better, Mea Bellus[ii]," he murmured to Draco and the other boy whispered back, "Dominus[iii]." Snape gasped when he heard Draco's pronouncement but the boys ignored him as they were in a world of their own. Henry's cold eyes thawed a bit at his lover's admission.  
  
He then leaned over the prone boy and placed his lips against Draco's and they opened gently to let him in. As if it was a signal, Henry kissed him thoroughly, and then, as thought in reminder of their mortality, the tenderness in the kiss was replaced by a rough kindness. Henry plundered the warm cavern, his tongue roving every where as he sucked on his lover and pressed on his dominance, taking soul deep pleasure in Draco's reciprocating submission.  
  
When breathing became a necessity, he released the kiss and tenderly caressed his lover's face reveling in the beauty radiating from the boy he loved.  
  
"Look at me, Drachma." He ordered and Draco obeyed immediately smiling up at him. Henry's eyes smiled back at him.  
  
"I'm quite pleased to have you here, Domino[iv], but why are you here?" Draco asked him and Henry deflected his question by answering blandly with his own question, "Where else would I be?"  
  
Since Draco knew him too well, the other boy insisted, "What happened?" and Henry told him quite succinctly, "Your godfather." He almost regretted it when Draco's face fell at his admission but Henry refused to allow him to dwell on it. Instead, he smoothly stroked Draco's neck, the way he knew the blonde enjoyed and told him softly, "Don't worry about it now, Drachma. Don't worry about anything." He whispered a sleeping spell in parseltongue and just before it knocked the other boy out, Draco worriedly called out, "Domino," and Henry soothed him, "I'm here, Mea Bellus."  
  
As Draco was dozing off, Henry remembered, and ordered, "You will tell me who was responsible for this." Draco sleepily nodded and Henry continued his soothing caress, as he whispered, "Just sleep, Drachma. I'll take care of everything."  
  
When he was sure that Draco was asleep Henry turned to look at the stone- faced man that had been watching them.  
  
In a soft voice reminiscent of the one he'd used to soothe Draco, he started talking to Snape, but his message this time was diametrically opposite of the one he'd sent Draco. "My name is Henry Evans Potter, and though you've never met me, you will get to know who I am. I love the boy on that bed with the depth of emotion that I cannot explain to you. As far as you are concerned, my relationship with Draco is non-negotiable. You will never understand or comprehend the nature of the bond we share, and for his sake, I hope that you love him a lot more than you could ever hate me because as sure as I know that tomorrow comes after today, I know that if and when you ask him to choose between us, you will lose him. And that will definitely be in my favour. The snitch is on your field."  
  
Henry then sat beside his lover and watched him, touching him intermittently. When His teacher started towards the door, Henry told him in a hard voice, "and Professor, you were wrong about one thing, I am not responsible for Draco lying in this bed. When he wakes up, he will tell me those who are, and Draco and I will deal with them accordingly. Goodnight, Professor."  
  
As Snape left, Henry settled in comfortably, leaned in and placed a kiss on Draco's lips. He then whispered to him, "Sleep well, Carus[v]. I will watch your dreams until you wake."  
  
The End!!!  
  
. -----------------------

[i] Another word for Dragon.

[ii] My Pretty Boy

[iii] Master

[iv] Master

[v] My Beloved


End file.
